Islamist alliance
rejects Pervez’s proposalsIslamabad, September 24
In a major setback to President Pervez Musharraf, the Islamist alliance —
Muthahida Majlis Amal — today rejected his modified constitutional proposals
and decided to join the mainstream opposition to agitate for his ouster as army
chief.

Pakistan trying
to arrest Laden, says MusharrafIslamabad, September 24
Dismissing the suggestion that Pakistan was avoiding the arrests of Al Qaida
leaders, President Pervez Musharraf said today that Islamabad was conducting
operation to nab Osama bin Laden and other operatives of his terror network with
the assistance of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

Indian Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha (R) talks with acting Swedish Foreign Minister Jan Karlsson before a meeting at the United Nations in New
York
on Wednesday.
— Reuters

Bush against H-1B
visa eliminationNew York, September 24
Observing that the H-1B visa programme is “important” to the USA, President
George W. Bush has said he is opposed to the efforts to scrap the programme,
under which thousands of Indian Information Technology experts have been brought
to the country.

One of a pack of Russian playing cards of leading US political figures show US President George W. Bush as the jack of hearts. A Russian newspaper has trumped the United States government with playing cards featuring top US politicians, a take off the Iraqi most wanted decks issued during the Iraq war.
— Reuters

Elizabeth Jordan Carr, America’s first test tube baby, now 21 and a senior at Simmons College, embraces her birth delivery doctor Fredrick Wirth of King Prussia during a reunion
in Boston on Tuesday. Dr Wirth delivered Carr 21 years ago in Norfolk.
— AP\PTI

Iraqi council
occupies seat at UNUnited Nations, September 24
The representatives of the US-appointed Iraqi Governing Council occupied the
seat of their country in the United Nations General Assembly even though the
Assembly has yet to give the council formal recognition.

India to hold
cultural carnival
in ChinaBeijing, September 24
To introduce India’s rich culture and art to the Chinese people, an ‘India
Carnival Week’ will be held here from October 1, official sources said today.

Afghan-born
German teacher Fereshta Ludin attends a news conference following the
ruling of Germany's Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe, Germany, on Wednesday.
Germany's top court ruled on Wednesday that a Muslim woman teacher had the
right to wear a traditional headscarf in the classroom, settling an issue
in Germany that has caused controversy around secular Europe. Ludin had been barred on the grounds
that her headscarf would violate the state's neutrality on religion. — Reuters

Islamabad, September 24
In a major setback to President Pervez Musharraf, the Islamist alliance — Muthahida Majlis Amal — today rejected his modified constitutional proposals and decided to join the mainstream opposition to agitate for his ouster as army chief.

After a three-hour-long meeting of its Supreme Council last night, which raised speculation that the alliance could be headed for a split over the issue of opposing General Musharraf’s package, the MMA announced early today that it had rejected the proposal and decided to call off all future talks with the government.

Its leaders told reporters that a three-member MMA delegation would call on Prime Minister Mir Zafarrullah Khan Jamali to convey MMA’s decision to reject the package and inform him about its resolve to insist that General Musharraf quit as Chief of Army by December, 2004.

General Musharraf is currently in New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

The modified package, under which General Musharraf “agreed in principle” to cut down his powers and submit his controversial Legal Framework Order (LFO) for the approval of parliament, was presented to the MMA on September 19 after it was approved by the cabinet.

MMA spokesman Liaqat Baluch said religious parties rejected the package as they felt that their demands about the President’s army uniform, his discretionary powers and the retirement age of judges were altogether ignored in the official draft proposals.

The MMA also wants General Musharraf to get elected as President by parliament and assemblies and not by seeking vote of confidence as proposed by the government package. Mr Baluch said there could be no compromise on the key issues on which it had engaged itself in dialogue for 10 months.

MMA leader Maulana Fazlur Rahman said the alliance would no longer engage itself in talks with the government as it had backed out of the agreed formula prepared during the Lahore talks. He said the alliance would not wait for a response to its proposals from the government side and concentrate on a countrywide mass-contact drive.

The MMA decision followed its leaders taking part in a joint relay fast organised by mainstream opposition parties outside the Parliament yesterday questioning the legality of General Musharraf to address the UNGA as President of Pakistan.

Displaying banners with slogans such as “General Musharraf is unelected and unconstitutional president and has no right to address the UNGA”, opposition leaders condemned him for going abroad and ignoring Mr Jamali, the elected Prime Minister.

The MMA and leaders of Alliance for Restoration of democracy, (ARD) said General Musharraf’s was a “disputed person” as he was not an elected president and hence not competent to represent the country at any international forum.

The rejection by the MMA of the package seals the fate of the Jamali government’s attempt to work out a compromise in which they could isolate parties headed by exiled former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif.
— PTI

Islamabad, September 24
Dismissing the suggestion that Pakistan was avoiding the arrests of Al Qaida leaders, President Pervez Musharraf said today that Islamabad was conducting operation to nab Osama bin Laden and other operatives of his terror network with the assistance of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

“This is an absolutely and totally wrong perception,” Mr Musharraf said about the perception that Pakistan was avoiding the arrests.

Pakistan was being assisted by the CIA in efforts to locate Osama and other Al Qaida members in the mountains, Mr Musharraf told CNN.

“And they (CIA) know exactly what is happening on ground. Sometime they get close to him and then suddenly this man disappears,” the President said.

Mr Musharraf said he was not worried at all that there was any danger to him or his government from Al Qaida.

“There is no such danger at all, this is not the reality,” he added.

Asked if Pakistan would send its troops to Iraq under the present circumstances, he said currently the country’s conditions were not conducive and there was a strong domestic opposition to it.

There was a common and general perception that the force in Iraq was an occupation force, it was not a reconstruction or welfare force, Mr Musharraf said.

“Personally I know the reality. I know the regime under Saddam Hussain was extremely autocratic and may be cruel and he (Saddam) himself was a cruel man,” the President said.

Asked why the people believed otherwise, the President said, “I think because of what has been happening to the Muslim world continuously”.

“There is a suspicion, there is a perception that the Muslims are being targeted and maybe religion is being targeted.”

Although the USA and the West had rejected this impression, actions should speak louder than words, he said.
— PTI

Islamabad, September 24
President Pervez Musharraf said today that Pakistan would not freeze its nuclear programme unilaterally under any circumstances until New Delhi froze its nuclear arsenal.

“Why isn’t the world asking Indians to freeze their programme... If they freeze we will also freeze,” General Musharraf told CNN in an interview.

“We have a threat on our eastern border from a country which is about seven times our size. We maintain a strategy of deterrence — conventional and unconventional — to guard ourselves, to ensure that there is a no win situation for our big neighbour”, he said.

“There will be no war if there is a no-win situation (for India) and we want to ensure there is a no-win situation through a strategy of deterrence,” said General Musharraf, who is currently in the USA to attend the UNGA session.

“We will maintain that deterrence level in conventional as well as in unconventional weapons,” he said.
— PTI

Washington, September 24
A global body of people of Indian origin has urged Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to speed up the process of granting them dual citizenship.

In a memorandum presented to Mr Vajpayee by its President Thomas Abraham, the Global Organisation of People of Indian Origin
(GOPIO) said though Indians were being recognised in every corner of the world for success in their chosen fields, there existed “a gap between the global Indian society and India.”

“Dual citizenship should help remove this gap,” the Washington-based body said.

Mr Vajpayee, at a conference of people of Indian origin in New Delhi earlier this year, had said dual citizenship would be granted to them. The organisation suggested the establishment of a Ministry of Overseas Indians similar to the Ministry of Overseas Chinese in China.
— PTI

New York, September 24
Observing that the H-1B visa programme is “important” to the USA, President George W. Bush has said he is opposed to the efforts to scrap the programme, under which thousands of Indian Information Technology experts have been brought to the country.

“The H-1B programme is important to the USA. I understand the current cap is approximately 2,00,000, and I will seek to maintain a strong H-1B programme,” Mr Bush was quoted as saying by the ‘India Abroad’ newspaper here.

The President’s comments came during an interaction with Indian-Americans on the occasion of a Bush-Cheney fund-raiser reception recently.

When asked about H-1B Bills on the floor of the House of Representatives, especially the Resolution 2688 moved by Republican Congressman Thomas Tancredo seeking to terminate the H-1B programme, Mr Bush said, “Tancredo and me are at opposite ends of the pole. I fully do not support Congressman Tancredo’s Bill against H-1Bs.”
— PTI

United Nations, September 24
The representatives of the US-appointed Iraqi Governing Council occupied the seat of their country in the United Nations General Assembly even though the Assembly has yet to give the council formal recognition.

The council’s representatives took the seat yesterday as no member objected but it needs to go to the credentials committee to get formal recognition, world body officials said.

Current Council President Ahmed Chalabi and Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari were occupying the places assigned to Iraq.

Apparently, there was no protest from Arab nations and others as the Arab League has given provisional recognition to the council.
— PTI

Beijing, September 24
To introduce India’s rich culture and art to the Chinese people, an ‘India Carnival Week’ will be held here from October 1, official sources said today.

The event will feature a series of lectures on Indian art, culture and society, an exhibition of Indian art, culture and tourism-oriented artefacts and photographs, performance of Indian dances, screening of Indian feature and documentary films and sale of souvenirs and food from the country.

The carnival week will also feature six lectures by Chinese experts on various aspects of Indian culture and society, helping visitors gain an insight into them.

“This is a major cultural event encompassing broad areas of art and culture in India, and will aim at presenting before the Chinese audience a microcosm of the rich and diverse entity that is collectively identified under the rubric of Indian culture,” the Deputy Chief of Mission of the Indian embassy, Mr Debnath Shaw, said.

The event is being organised to mark the 110th birth anniversary of the honorary president of the People’s Republic, Soong Ching-Ling, “an enduring symbol of Sino-Indian amity,” he said.

In January this year, the Soong Ching-Ling Foundation proposed to hold a series of exhibitions on culture and social life of various countries. The foundation selected India as the first partner, Mr Shaw said.

Soong Ching-Ling (1893-1981) was the wife of Dr Sun Yat-Sen, the founder of the first Chinese republic. She visited India in 1955, interacted with a wide cross-section of Indian society and held the country very dear to her heart.
— PTI

Kathmandu, September 24
The Royal Nepal Army has sentenced to jail four soldiers after court martialling them for allegedly extorting money posing as Maoists.

They were found guilty of extorting money in Nepalgunj in western Nepal pretending to be Maoists, Brig-Gen B.A. Kumar Sharma, chief, Law Division, RNA, said.
— PTI

BRIEFLY

Mr
Jeffries, a Bassett Hound, is seen in
this handout photo made available on Wednesday. Jeffries has been
recognised by the new 2004
Guiness Book of World Records as the
dog with the largest ears in the world. Jeffries, whose ears
measure 29.2 cm, lives with his owner in West
Sussex, England and has his ears insured for 30,000 pounds ($47,800). — AP/PTI

Prince Harry turns cowboy
BRISBANE: Britain’s Prince Harry was in on Wednesday settling to his new life as a cowboy on a remote Australian cattle ranch owned by a friend of his late mother, Princess Diana. The prince, third in line to the throne, will spend three months working for minimum wages at Tooloombilla Station, west of the Queensland state capital Brisbane.
— AP

Springsteen beats Beatles
NEW YORK: Bruce Springsteen is indeed the boss, beating the Beatles and all others for making the most popular album of all time, according to Zagat Survey’s “Music Guide,’’ which hit stores on Tuesday. Zagat’s new 332-page guide lists the top 1,000 albums of all time, according to ratings from more than 10,500 music aficionadoes. Topping the guide’s most popular list is Springsteen’s “Born to Run,’’ with the Beatles’ “Abbey Road’’ and “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’’ taking second and third places, respectively.
— Reuters

Man held with snakes in pants
SYDNEY: Four king cobras were among eight dangerous snakes found strapped to the legs of a 28-year-old Swedish tourist who arrived at Sydney airport from Thailand, customs officials said on
Wednesday. The reptiles were discovered in packages strapped to the man’s calves. He faces a stiff fine or up to 10 years in jail for attempting to smuggle wildlife into Australia.
— DPA

Vatican issues Teresa stamps
VATICAN CITY: Vatican on Tuesday issued stamps, on Mother Teresa. A display of her blood, even a musical and cartoon celebrating her life: These are some of the ways that her fans are honouring the nun who will take a step toward sainthood when she is beatified next month. Factories are working overtime to churn out Mother Teresa rosaries, crucifixes and key chains ahead of the
October 19 beatification.
— AP